Banks: Quick victory key to bringing down oil prices

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sen. Jim Banks said he expects the Trump administration will be able to achieve its objectives and end the war with Iran quickly.

Banks, an Indiana Republican, made those comments during an interview with News 8 for All INdiana Politics. Crude oil prices have risen sharply due to Iran’s efforts to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil is shipped. The strait separates Iran from Oman and the United Arab Emirates and is just 21 nautical miles, or 25 land miles, wide at its narrowest point. This has constrained the crude oil supply, which has led to higher gas prices in the United States and around the world.

Banks said he is concerned about rising gas prices and the quickest way to bring them down is to defeat Iran and reopen the strait.

He said the Trump administration has a narrow set of objectives and it should be able to achieve them in short order. The U.S. military has said it has sunk more than 60 Iranian naval vessels, including at least 16 mine-laying ships. Much of Iran’s air force has been destroyed as well, though the country’s rulers have stepped up attacks on ships using ballistic missiles and drones.

“He’s made it very clear that there are short-term objectives here,” he said. “At the end of the day, preventing Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, and it’s my sense that everything we need to do, we can do in days...